Star Tribune
Minnesota graduation rates slipped in 2023. Look up your school’s results.
Minnesota’s four-year graduation rate dipped slightly this year, with about 83.3% of high schoolers earning their diplomas on time — tempering a rebound seen last year when graduation rates ticked back up to levels similar to those before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leaders at the Minnesota Department of Education say the small decrease is due, in part, to errors in tracking students, particularly when they transferred schools. That finding “re-emphasizes the need for schools to keep track of — and report — every single student during their high school career,” the state Education Department wrote in a news release announcing the graduation rates this week.
The data also shows slight decreases in the graduation rates for Black, Asian and Latino students and students learning English. In 2022, the graduation rate for Black students jumped to its highest rate ever, 73.5%. Though it dipped to 72.1% in 2023, it still represents an upward trend over the past five years as the state has tried to narrow the achievement gap.
The graduation rate for white students and students identifying as two or more races increased in 2023, and the rate for American Indian students and students receiving special education remained largely unchanged from the previous year.
“High school graduation is a crucial milestone for every student in our schools; it’s essential for individual success and the well-being of our communities,” Education Commissioner Willie Jett said in a news release. He highlighted recent initiatives around literacy, student mental health and supporting students’ needs as ways the state is working to increase graduation rates.
Graduation rates are “an important indicator of the success of our education system,” said Michael Rodriguez, dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.
According to the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey, most students aim to graduate: Just 1% of the state’s students in grades eight, nine and 11 indicated on the survey that they did not plan to graduate from high school.
“The hard reality is that not all students are supported at the same level to meet those requirements,” Rodriguez said.
Mohamed Omar is the new board chair of Hennepin Healthcare System, the organization that runs HCMC, making him Minnesota’s first Somali American hospital board leader.
The health care system board permanently appointed Omar to the position Wednesday at their regular meeting. He had served as interim chair since Babette Apland stepped down in September.
Omar has been on the volunteer board for three years, working on the finance, investment, audit and compliance committees. He is the chief administrative officer at the Washburn Center for Children and previously was chief financial officer at the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.
In a statement, Omar said he was excited to lead a hospital board in the state with the largest Somali American population in the U.S. He said he shared the health system’s dedication to providing “equitable, high-quality care.”
“My commitment is to deepen our community engagement, build more authentic connections between patients and team members, and build a confident future together,” Omar’s statement said.
CEO Jennifer DeCubellis and Nneka Sederstrom, chief health equity officer, praised Omar’s selection to lead the board. They said more inclusive leadership with a commitment to ending health disparities are key to HCMC’s success.
Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando, who is also on health system board, said she was excited to work with Omar. She said county leaders are dedicated to good stewardship of the “state’s last public safety-net hospital.”
“As the first Hennepin County Board Chair of color, I know how impactful it is for our communities to see themselves represented in public leadership,” Fernando said.
DULUTH – The Superior National Forest has lifted its forestwide campfire ban, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, effective Friday.
Recent rain and humidity have improved conditions across the national forest’s 3 million acres, forest officials said in a news release.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has also lifted fire restrictions in Cook, Koochiching, Lake and northern St. Louis counties.
Fire danger is still a concern this time of year, said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
“As leaves fall and vegetation continues to dry out, it’s important for people to be cautious with anything that can cause a spark,” she said.
The national forest imposed its broad campfire ban nearly two weeks ago, after a third wildfire, named for Bogus Lake, was discovered on forest land. No significant fire activity has been reported in recent days for any of those three fires. A fourth fire inside the forest, the 8.5-acre Pfeiffer Lake Fire, started Oct. 17. It was contained within 24 hours, the Forest Service said.
Much of northeast Minnesota is still classified in the “severe drought” stage by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked this week if she thought Donald Trump was a fascist, and she replied ‘’Yes, I do.’’ She subsequently called him the same thing herself, saying voters don’t want ‘’a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.’’
But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word shift when viewed through a historical or political prism — especially so close to the end of a fraught presidential race?
An authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is often associated with the far right and characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military forces to help suppress political and civil opposition.
History’s two most famous fascists were Nazi chief Adolf Hitler in Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce, or ”the duke,” Mussolini headed the National Fascist Party, which was symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasces — a bundle of rods with an axe among them.
At Mussolini’s urging, in October 1922, thousands of ”Blackshirts,” or ”squadristi,” made up an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome, vowing to seize power. Hitler’s Nazis similarly relied on a militia, known as the ”Brownshirts.” Both men eventually imposed single-party rule and encouraged violence in the streets. They used soldiers, but also fomented civilian unrest that pit loyalists against political opponents and larger swaths of everyday society.
Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and issued sophisticated propaganda. They played up racist fears and manipulated not just their active supporters but everyday citizens.
